Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

We had our wedding in the outside Garden Tent which holds the largest amount of people. Working with Bob in the catering department was a breeze, and the food was amazing. Every guest raved about the beef. Any and every question I had on the venue or for decorating ideas, Kristi responded almost immediately. I'm from Maryland, and having them help with all of the planning and scheduling for our Pittsburgh wedding was a blessing. I don't think our wedding would have been as successful if it weren't for the staff and their amazing venue. All of our guests had nothing but great things to say about everything (food, venue, the staff, etc.). If you are having a large wedding, I highly suggest the Pittsburgh Zoo Garden Tent to help make it perfect.

I want to start off by saying that my fiancé and I LOVED the space (aquarium) and the food at the zoo was DELICIOUS. The staff is super friendly and it’s a unique spot that your guests will love. I do however feel that the zoo really “sold” the place to us during our initial meeting with them. Looking back I feel like they promised a lot, probably more than they are capable of executing. Responsiveness (via email) definitely wasn’t a strong suit of theirs. I had moments that I felt like I was bothering or annoying them? Just to get a simple response – not the best feeling. I was also disappointed regarding access to the site. The shuttle system that transported guests to the site was clustered and slow. Not a major issue, but I felt bad that my guests arrived and were standing around waiting at the entrance as our cocktail hour progressed. We had a guest in a wheelchair that I was told would get special transportation and it never happened. We were told that the bridal party could be carted through the zoo for photo ops. That never occurred. My husband and I were approached late by one staff member to take the two of us around but, honestly at that point it wasn’t even light enough out to capitalize on the offer. And we were flustered just trying to get in.The zoo has a food “warehouse” that we were able to drop off cookies and liquor in advance. It is a nice idea in theory and we did take advantage of it. However, the site was under construction and was more of a cluttered trailer with numerous events items stacked hap hazardly together. It’s no wonder a box of our items (my guestbook) was misplaced and not found for a week after the wedding. Overall, I am glad we chose the zoo and the catering was wonderful, but just beware it may not be as perfect as it sounds. Or go as seamlessly as promised.

We had our reception at Water's Edge. Despite the rain (cocktail hour had to be held inside) and the polar bears hiding for most of the night, it was an amazing evening. Most of our guests were from out of town and loved seeing this unique location. Even our local guests were amazing with how the space was transformed. They said that they would never look at the zoo the same way again!Everyone at the zoo was amazing and helpful. Jamie and Bob helped us throughout the planning process and answered our plethora of questions with patience. On the day of the wedding, we showed up early, as planned, to take pictures. It was raining, so two zoo employees drove us around in a shuttle to take photos. We know it took a lot of time, but appreciate all of their help.I was a bit worried about the food, since no tasting is available. The food was amazing! True top restaurant quality. Several guests raved about it.The zoo made planning much easier since their packages include the food, bartender service (BYOB), linens, set up, tables, etc. All in all, it was a wonderful experience planning & having the wedding with them.

The zoo was amazing! Every e-mail that I wrote was responded to so quickly. It helped make planning out of town so easy. Jaime and Bob were wonderful to work with. My mom asked to have my grandmother's special gravy for the pierogies in our Pittsburgh station. Bob made it happen. I dropped off 3 boxes of our guest book, welcome table decorations, escort cards, and table numbers two days before the wedding. I gave them some information on how I would like it set up and I could not believe how awesome it looked when I got to the reception. They decorated it better than I could have imagined. They took all of our candy. candy jars, and cookies and made the most amazing cookie/candy table I have ever seen. Everything was bright and beautiful. When my bustle broke, Kristi found me 5 safety pins right away. They had everything (even the extra cookies) boxed up for us and ready to pick up two days after the wedding. I can't speak highly enough about the zoo. They were one of our most favorite vendors. I would recommend them to anyone!

I wish I could have great things to say about my reception here because all of the planning went amazing, Bob and Jaime were great! The food was amazing! But the actual reception had too many things wrong with it. First, they let guest in too early so I was rushed into a small hiding room and instead of doing photographs before guests got there I spent half of my reception doing it instead of enjoying my reception. Then at the end of the night, I asked if we could take the leftover cake home and one of the staff replied no and continued to throw it away and then while I was walking out alot of staff were telling us how great our cake tasted. Wish I would have had a chance to try it. Finally, at the end of the night they said a shuttle would be back for me and my husband along with my immediate family but instead they forgot us and they knew they did because the woman told me it was her fault she told everyone to go home and because of that we all sat out side the aquarium for over an hour after the reception was over and all of the guest left waiting to find out if and when we could ever leave. I mean seriously, how do you forget the bride and groom, could not believe that happened! When we asked for an explanation the next day for everything that went wrong, they had no explanation and 3 weeks later, we are still waiting for a reply.

They were great to work with, the aquarium was unique and beautiful, and the food was excellent. I would highly recommend them!

Such a unique venue for our wedding, we got tons of compliments. The food was good, the staff is completely accommodating and we all had a great time!

Everything was absolutely perfect! Us and our guests loved the atmosphere and the food. Bob (the catering manager) was excellent. We couldn't have dreamed of a better day thanks to everyone at the Pgh Zoo & Aquarium.

We loved our wedding reception in the Garden Tent at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The people at the Zoo were wonderful to work with - they went out of their way to make our day exactly what we wanted. They were a little slow at returning phone calls, but no big deal. The tent looked great, and our guests told us how great the food was. Overall we were very pleased with our choice.

I loved having our reception at the Water's Edge. Our guests raved about how much they loved the food and how much they loved the area. Sometimes it was difficult to get someone to answer your questions. We were happy that we could bring our own alcohol. My only problem was that we asked them to not open a new bottle until they finished the first bottle, but when we got it all back most of the bottles were opened with only a little bit out of them.

I absolutely loved having my reception at the PPG Aquarium. We had the highest-priced sit-down dinner service but got a discount for our Sunday wedding. I love that the package was all-inclusive - all we had to do was provide our own alcohol, so we really cut down on costs that way. Plus, the guests LOVED looking at the fish, stingray tank, etc - no one was bored like you can sometimes be at a banquet hall! Jaime, Ky, and Bob were all very responsive and patient with my many questions during the planning process. Plus, I planned the wedding from overseas, so I made two visits - one with my parents and one with my fiance - and they led us on a private tour of the aquarium each time, which was awesome and really made me feel secure in our decision to have the reception there. I also appreciated that I just had to drop off the favors, escort cards, etc, and they set up the tables and everything - I didn't have to think about a thing on the wedding day! My only complaint is that several guests complained to me that the servers cleared their full drinks away when they stepped away from the table, which obviously cost us extra money when the guests had to get another drink, and also they cleared away the escort cards, which many guests wanted to keep as mementos. But overall, I was VERY happy with the reception - what an awesome place!

We were very happy with our reception at the PPG Aquarium. The venue was beautiful, the food was delicious, and everyone was entertained by all of the fish and shark tanks. They were very willing to accomodate our wishes and make the event our own. They were slightly less responsive than I would have liked to email and phone calls but they did exactly what they needed to do when it really mattered. I would highly recommend them.

The folks in the event staff were a pleasure to work with! KUDOS! Even with all of our ice sculptures, they got everything set up in almost perfect time. The catering staff is used to the usual menu/event. While I did end up getting what I wanted, it wasn't without trial and tribulation. They will not provide a tasting of food. It was this area that kept me from rating them a 5/5

I loved having our reception at the zoo. The atmosphere was beautiful and it was suitable for guests of all ages. The only problem we had was with one bartender who was particularly rude to several guests. The cake was also forgotten about, though was cut and served before too late. Overall I had a wonderful experience with them and would suggest it to anyone.

Great reception! Everything was beautiful. Everyone loved the food. Couldn't of ask for a better day!

A wonderful and unique location! Jaime and Bob were a delight to work with and made our wedding day one to remember for both us and our guests.